Computational Design: NEXT 10

Arian Hakimi founded Arian Hakimi Architects, a multidisciplinary studio for Architecture, Urbanism, and design rooted in systematic design strategies. His academic background starts in India, where he attended the University of Pune and later transferred to the University of Tehran to finish his B.Arch, focusing on the lost arts of Iran. He then studied M.Arch at IaaC-UPC, focusing on urban design and computational-morphogenesis design methodology.

He has been lecturing in the field of parametricism and systematic design methods. He has tutored over 17 international workshops promoting bottom-up design methodology to unfold new territories in the design field. Including in Zaha Hadid Architects, the internship summer program resulted in an exhibition of the extraordinary process,” the late Zaha Hadid’s final show at Maison Mais Non-London.”

ZHA Experience

Lead Designer at Zaha Hadid Architects 2013 – 2021

He joined ZHA in 2013 and has been involved in more than 26 projects, ranging from residential and mixed-use buildings to transportation infrastructure and masterplan development, including two projects under construction. Unicorn Island in Chengdu and KAFD, an award-winning Metro Station in King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. In both projects, he has contributed to implementing advanced parametric design strategies and automation in architectural workflow and complex geometry rationalization.

Ignacio Revenga is a Spanish architect based in New York and holds a Master's in Architecture from ETSAM - Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, Polytechnic University 

He is the founder of Topomorpho, a design lab specializing in computational protocols and experimental architecture through emerging technologies and computational thinking. 

His work dissolves the boundaries between art and architecture through complex geometries inspired by nature and form-finding methods. By integrating mathematics, physical simulations, and biomimicry, he develops architectural solutions that evoke poetic atmospheres, which he refers to as heterotopias. 

Part of his research has been published in architecture magazines such as UPM and COAM, contributing to the discourse on computational thinking applied to architecture. 

He has collaborated with educational institutions such as the Polytechnic University of Madrid and Pratt Institute of New York and has worked with renowned international firms like Caza or Theverymany, among others, on projects across the United States, Colombia, the Philippines, and Japan. His work has been recognized and published in Architizer A+Awards, Dezeen, Rethinking the Future, German Design Awards, Archilovers, The Plan, Archello, AIA NY News, Design Icons, BluPrint, Goood, AasArchitecture. 

Dinara Kasko is a pastry chef, architect, and the founder of Dinara Kasko Pastry Art, a global bakery recognized for its creative cakes and pastries. Dinara will display some of her creative works at the Computational Design: NEXT 10 conference. Dinara studied architecture at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture and worked as an architect and 3D visualizer before discovering her passion for pastry baking and utilizing her design abilities in this industry. Kasko’s primary baking method entails creating a silicone mold with a 3D printer and then using them to shape a cake. Her works of confectionery art incorporate Voronoi diagram and biomimicry mathematical ideas without sacrificing taste. Unfortunately, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kasko’s studio in Kharkiv was attacked.

Elif Erdine is an Architect and Director of the Emergent Technologies & Design Post-Graduate Programme at the Architectural Association. Elif will be presenting at the upcoming conference Computational Design: NEXT 10 conference. EmTech’s research program focuses on exploring new architectural and ecological synergies through the key convergence of computational design and fabrication. Elif Erdine’s Ph.D. thesis, ‘ Generative Processes in Tower Design: Algorithms for the Integration of Tower Subsystems,’ was completed at the Architectural Association Ph.D. in Design Programme. She has been directing AA Visiting School programs (AA Istanbul VS, AA Summer DLAB) since 2010, focusing on generative design and the integration of algorithmic design processes with large-scale digital manufacturing equipment. Between 2006 and 2010, she worked with Zaha Hadid Architects.

Marcela is an Architect and Architectural photographer, founder of NAARO studio, and former lead Architect at Zaha Hadid Architects. Marcela will be delivering a lecture at the Computational Design: NEXT 10 conference. Marcela and NAARO, a London-based studio, specializes in documenting the narrative of innovative design in pictures and film and offers compelling visual storytelling of creative architecture from across the world. Marcela teaches Architectural photography at the London College of Communications in addition to her work with NAARO, an academic practice she claims is inextricably linked to her professional practice.

Roberto Naboni is an architect with a Ph.D., an associate professor of computational design and digital fabrication at SDU, and the director of SDU CREATE. Roberto will be our guest speaker at the Computational Design: NEXT 10 conference. He graduated from Politecnico di Milano with a Master of Architecture and just earned his doctorate in Architecture, built environment, and construction engineering program. Roberto published papers at international conferences and authored articles for journals and magazines. He is the author of “Advanced Customization in Architectural Design and Construction” (2015). He previously collaborated with international research centers and offices for architecture, such as ICD Stuttgart, ETH Zurich, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Enric Miralles & Benedetta Tagliabue Associates, and Stefano Boeri Studio.

Andrea Rossi is an architect, researcher, and creative coder. He is the developer of WASP, an open-source Grasshopper plug-in to design discrete aggregations of modular elements. Andrea will be giving a lecture and Q&A session at the Computational Design: NEXT 10 conference. Wasp is a Python-based Grasshopper plug-in that provides combinatorial tools for designing with discrete pieces. Each part’s description contains the information required for the aggregate process (part geometry, connections location, and orientation). The connections create the part’s topological network, which determines aggregation possibilities with other factors. Wasp provides a set of aggregation algorithms that enable the creation of structures based on geometry and data. It also includes utilities for visualizing and processing the resultant aggregate and tools for restricting it both locally and globally.

Dr. Sina Mostafavi is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the Department of Architecture and 3D Design in the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Huddersfield, UK. As an experienced researcher, practicing architect, and educator with computational design and architectural robotics expertise, Mostafavi’s research focuses on the innovative application of emerging materials and technologies for integrated design and circular production. He holds a doctoral degree from TU Delft, where he has been a senior researcher and the manager at the robotic building lab of Hyperbody Research Group. He has led several research projects at TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment in the Netherlands and Dessau Institute of Architecture at Bauhaus in Germany. In DIA, he has been the initiator of the DARS.hub unit, [Design, Architectural Robotics & Systems], delivering interdisciplinary projects such as Bioplastic Robotic-3D-Printing and Adaptive City Car sponsored by AUDI. As a practicing architect, he has been the founder of SETUParchitecture, an award-winning studio aiming to adapt digital design-to-production technologies to geo-cultural specificities.

Mostafavi’s projects are featured at international exhibitions, such as the V2 gallery Rotterdam, NAi, Dutch Design Week, and Print the World Exposition in Centre Pompidou Paris. Lectured and published internationally, he has presented his work in institutions such as ETH Zurich, AA-London, UT-Sydney, TU-Vienna, Paris Malaquais, and KNAW-Amsterdam. Mostafavi is the recipient of 2A awards in IAAC for Softstone Building, Architizer A+ Award 2020, and the Digital Futures Emerging Scholar Award 2021. He has been a member of the scientific committees of various journals and conferences such as eCAADe, ACADIA, ROB|Arch, CAAD Futures, and Journal of 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing. He is currently elected to the Board of Directors in ACADIA and Editorial Board member in IJAC Journal.

Matias del Campo is an architect, designer, associate professor at Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, director of the AR2IL, and co-founder of the architecture practice SPAN. Matias will deliver a lecture for 45 minutes and answer questions at the upcoming Computational Design: NEXT 10 conference. He conducts research on advanced design methods in architecture, primarily through the application of Artificial Intelligence, collaborating with Michigan Robotics and the Computer Science department. His firm SPAN gained wide recognition for the design of the Austrian Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and, more recently, for the Robot Garden at the Ford Robotics Building. SPAN’s work was featured at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012 and 2021, ArchiLab in 2013, and the Architecture Biennale in Vienna and Buenos Aires in 2019. Solo shows include “Formations” at the MAK in Vienna and the exhibition “Sublime Bodies” at the Fab Union Gallery in Shanghai, China. Matias del Campo was awarded the Accelerate@CERN fellowship, the AIA Studio Prize, and was elected to the boards of directors of ACADIA and IJAC, the International Journal of Architectural Computing. In 2016 and 2020, Matias del Campo co-chaired the ACADIA conference and chaired the 2020 DigitalFUTURES edition. SPAN’s work is in the permanent collection of the FRAC, the MAK in Vienna, the Benetton Collection, the Albertina, the Pinakothek Munich, and several private collections.His publishing work includes two editions of AD – Evoking through Design and Machine Hallucinations (co-edited with Neil Leach) as well as the books Neural Architecture – Design and Artificial Intelligence (ORO Editions 2022) and Sublime Bodies (co-authored with Sandra Manninger, Tongji Press 2017).

Laura Maria Gonzalez is an interdisciplinary designer and architect whose work includes design, computation, synthetic biology, and additive manufacturing. Laura will lead a 90-minute session at the Computational Design: NEXT 10 conference. Laura is presently a community biotechnology researcher at the MIT Media Lab. Her current research uses developing computational and synthetic biology technologies to design and create living materials that address the building sector’s environmental effect by encouraging a collaborative conversation between people and microbes. Laura previously worked as an architect at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill in New York City and London.

Michael Pryor is a multi-faceted designer utilizing Rhino + Grasshopper, C#, Maya, ZBrush, Houdini and others. He is currently a Head of Procedural Generation at Wilder World Metaverse and the CDO of DesignMorphine. Previously he was a Computational Designer at Nike NXT on performance footwear. He has been involved in various major architectural works in the US, China, Dubai, and Lebanon. Previously, he worked at Trahan, SOMA, OLI, and [AY]A on projects ranging from museums, housing, restaurants, furniture, products, exhibits and prototypes. Michael is the author of the popular Grasshopper3d plug-in Pufferfish with over 150k downloads. He has been the tutor to workshops by the AA visiting school Paris with Louis Vuitton, 3D-Dreaming, Rese.Arch, MIT OSL, Harvard GSD, rat[LAB], PA, Meal, and DesignMorphine.